Hello folks,

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I'm very new to all of this technology-stuff and have only just recently started to learn more about data/privacy/backup/NAS/etc, so please do forgive me if this is/seems like a really stupid dumb question. I've spent the past few days trying to study/better understand all these things but am still confused on some things that I was hoping some of y'all might be able to help me understand. I tried my best to go through all the google search results and this sub's wiki, but I guess I'm a little dumb because I think I need a little bit of help-- which I would really appreciate.

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Essentially, I am interested in moving away from using Google Drive, which I use as backup and cloud, and setting up my own NAS in the near future. I unfortunately don't have the resources to do this right now, but it is definitely I plan on doing at some point. Regardless, I do urgently need to:

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1) back up the data I have on my computer

2) replace my laptop's current SSD with one that has more space (planning to upgrade to 970 EVO Plus 2TB; I don't really have much of a choice in regards to this as my laptop's a little old, and the 970 is the best SSD it can accommodate atm); my laptop is hanging on by a thread with its current 250GB so I figured I might as well backup and upgrade its storage while I'm at it

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Also, for the record, I understand that NAS is not necessarily about just "backing up" data and more of like a local cloud server. Just figured I should share this info since almost all the posts I've read on reddit/online end up bringing NAS up.

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What I need help with is figuring out what external hard drive to get to back up the data on my laptop. I need something that I can use to backup all the data on my laptop before I replace its internal SSD. I'm also hoping I can use it infrequently (maybe like... once every month?) to continuously back up my laptop. I don't deal with a terrible amount of visual/graphic media and mostly have a lot of word documents/files, but I do intend on learning how to code in the next few weeks; I mention this because I'm not sure whether this fact will influence what kind of backup device/how much TB I'll need to get. The hard drive would be what I would predominantly use to back up data on my laptop until I figure out how to set up my own NAS setting/environment in accordance to my needs. It does not need to be portable. I also don't mind getting more than one hard drive to back up my data, as I understand having more copies for back up is more beneficial than not.

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From what I understand, it'd be best to get an HDD that is CMR. What... I'm confused about is... Is an HDD different from a "USB external hard drive"...? God, typing this question really makes me feel stupid, but I am genuinely confused. Are not all external HDDs connectable via USB...? Again, please forgive the stupidity of this question, I am a newbie in every sense of the word. The more I try to search this up, the more confused I get. I really spent the past few days with the assumption that all external HDDs = use USB to transfer data, but I read something that implied I was absolutely wrong.

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So... yes... Please help this newbie out. I'd appreciate any and all feedback. Thank you in advance :')